by Kirk Spitzer, Special for USA TODAY

by Kirk Spitzer, Special for USA TODAY

TOKYO â?? Memo to Japan: You should not make fun of foreigners' noses.

All Nippon Airways (ANA) learned that the hard way when it was forced to pull a television ad this week that prompted charges of cultural insensitivity, if not outright racism.

The ad featured two Japanese actors in pilots' uniforms discussing ANA's expanded international air service. As one actor cites the need to become more attuned to foreigners, the camera shifts to his companion -- now wearing a cartoonish blond wig and a long fake nose. He answers, "Of course."

Blond hair and large noses are common Western stereotypes in Japan.

ANA apologized and quickly removed the ad after a flood of largely negative posts appeared on its Facebook page and social media.

"Your latest commercial was in poor taste. As many might find it humorous, I (and) a large community of foreigners here in Japan don't," posted Michelle Pearce-Nakatani.

It wouldn't be surprising if the Japanese didn't quite "get" certain foreign concepts.

Japan is one of the world's most homogenous, if not isolated, societies. Less than 2% of the population is foreign-born and immigration is largely non-existent. English classes are compulsory beginning in grade school, but relatively few speak the language well.

While foreign visitors to Japan reached a record 10.4 million last year, that's fewer even than in neighboring South Korea, which has less than half the population.

Jeff Kingston, a professor of Asian Studies at Temple University's Tokyo campus, says that while the ANA ad was intended to poke fun at the Japanese, its creators failed to consider how it might play to an overseas audience.

"The ad explicitly suggests that Japan is too parochial," he says. "But it does show that there was insufficient concern about racial sensitivities and the backlash that this can generate even if the intention was innocent. Given that ANA is a global company, it needs to be more careful."

ANA is Japan's largest air carrier. It operates in 13 foreign countries, including the United States.

Spokesperson Maho Ito said the company pulled the ad on Monday, the day after it first appeared. She said a revised version will be issued later.

"The commercial was intended to be a humorous way of highlighting the increased number of international services ANA is operating from Haneda Airport (in Tokyo). It was not our intention to cause offense and we apologize to anyone who was upset," Itoh said.

Michael Cucek, a research associate with the MIT Center for International Studies, and a longtime resident of Japan, says the ANA ad was not racist â?? it just wasn't very good.

"The ad was just inscrutable. It was as if everyone at the final meeting didn't want to let on that he or she did not understand it, so they all pretended to get it, even though there was nothing to get. Anyone who has worked in a large Japanese organization is familiar with that," Cucek says.

Meanwhile, ANA's main competitor, Japan Airlines (JAL), announced this week that it will begin new daily service from Tokyo to London later this year. No word if JAL is planning a commercial, too.